The invention relates to a motor vehicle, including an energy storage device chargeable through connection of a charging cable to a vehicle-mounted terminal device, and an optical lighting device indicating the ongoing charging process or at least the full state of charge of the energy storage device.
Vehicles with electric drive, be it hybrid vehicles with a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor with associated energy storage device, or be it purely electric vehicles, are known. They have in common the presence of an energy storage device, i.e. a sufficiently receptive and powerful accumulator which is able to store energy that can be drawn, if need be, to drive the motor vehicle.
The energy storage device has to be charged from time to time, which normally is realized by connecting a charging cable to a vehicle-mounted terminal device. The charging cable, which is run from a household outlet to the terminal device that is normally located on the vehicle side, or from a corresponding specially provided charging station at a gas station, is plugged into the vehicle-mounted terminal device so that the charging process can begin. To signal the user that the charging process is in progress, a lighting device, such as a small LED or the like, may, for example, be provided adjacent to the terminal device to visualize this by a light signal. Also the state of charge, i.e., for example, that the charging process is complete, because the energy storage device is fully charged, can be indicated. This requires, however, separate provision of an appropriate indicating device in the form of LEDs or the like on the vehicle side, requiring the integration of LEDs and a corresponding line routing etc.